Notes / Commercial Description:
A full-bodied stout with focused chocolate flavors and plenty of hops and malt, Cadillac Mtn. Stout was selected World Champion Dry Stout 1995 and the best hard-to-find beer in America by Men’s Journal.

Reviews by jslot38:

Appearance: Bottle to DFH pint glass. Off white head quickly diminishes to a top covering, immediately showing signs of lacing.

Smell: Toasted malts, a bit of chocolate comes through. Unassuming and not at all overwhelming, but hard to beat for the style.

Taste: A fairly mellow beer through and through, yet has a way of luring you in. Notes of roasted malts, a touch of molasses and chocolate. An earthiness, and bready backbone.

MF: Smooth as can be. Almost creamy. A perfect level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Wish this was one of the old bombers... 12 ounces is simply not enough. Right up there with Kalamazoo Stout from Bells which this most reminded me of. With all the imperial stouts I find myself drinking these days its great to have a non-overpowering yet flavorful and smooth as this one.

More User Reviews:

A: Standard pour yields a 2.5 finger foamy mocha head with decent retention. Beer is a dark, near opaque amber. Lacing is stringy and subtle at best with little cling.

S: Aroma is smoked malts, licquorice, chocolate, and day old coffee. Nothing overwhelming but very appropriate with no real surprises.

T: Chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt sweetness upfront. Coffee flavors sour a little but they're balanced by the intensifying chocolate and toffee taste. Licquorice present waaay in the back along with a bit of smokiness. Finish is a bittersweet molasses with an aftertaste of chocolate that dissipates quickly. Very enjoyable.

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. A bit livelier in the mouth than I would've thought from the style but smooths out as it warms. Silky and oily as it finally goes down. Finish is sticky and aftertaste fades quickly.

D: This beer is caught between an American and an English style stout and it thankfully represents the best of both. Great feel and amazingly complex for what it is. A surprisingly solid offering from an otherwise quite below-the-radar brewery. Definitely worth seeking out and trying though. Hugely drinkable.

A: Served warmer than usual on a really hot day, probably around 50 degrees would be my guess - i.e., slightly colder than cellar temperature. Poured - fairly aggressively - from the 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. Body is black with a half-finger tannish head. Leaves a decent amount of lacing stuck to the sides of the glass.

T: Roasted barley malt, touch of roasted coffee beans and modestly acrid char. A bit of chocolate. Sour cherries on the back end of things. Some sort of hop bitterness finishes it off; I'm thinking more citrus than anything, but it's tough to pinpoint the hoppy bitterness in light of the roasted barley and charcoal-type flavors.

M: Good carbonation levels - not overly active at all, giving this a good modestly creamy feel. Heft is a tad bit thin, but for a Dry Irish Stout, I'm not expecting a full bodied beer at all, so it works.

O: This is really good. Packs a lot of flavor into a relatively light stout. Drinks like a four or five percenter, but packs in nearly seven. Quick buzz is duly noted.

"It is said, that at some times of the year, the sun touches the slopes of Cadillac Mountain before any other place in the United States."

-Acadia National Park website

The sun is, however, unable to penetrate the murky depths of Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout. Glossy sable with red-bronze highlights peeking through the bottom edge of the glass. The head is on the large side due to what appears to be, at the moment at least, a generous amount of carbonation. The loud 'pffft' should have been a tipoff, but I still had to give the cap a well-timed slurp to prevent overflow. The foam is toasted tan in color and is airier than I like on my stouts. It's the sort of unsticky head that is unlikely to leave much lace... and doesn't.

The nose is a good one. There's nothing here that's surprising or that really stands out, just a mouth-wateringly good American stout aroma. It smells of vanilla-laced bittersweet chocolate, like a thick, chewy brownie swimming in melted vanilla bean ice cream. No molasses, anise, smoke or any of the other scents commonly attributed to the Double or Imperial stout styles. It's simple, but in a good way.

There's more flavor complexity on the palate than aroma complexity in the nose. Either that or my tastebuds are more refined than my olfactory lobe. Unfortunately, it isn't the stoutest stout going (more on that below). It's still overwhelmingly chocolate-like. Coffee with cream elbows its way into the flavor profile as well and may even become 'numero uno' as the beer approaches room temperature. Vanilla is still present, but not abundantly so.

There's a near perfect mix of flavor sensations (sweet, bitter and sour). That will be a good thing for some and not such a good thing for others. Since I like balance in my (non-subtyped) stouts, I'm fine with it. As is usually the case, bitterness reigns late in the mouthful and after the swallow. I can't decide if the hoppiness is citric or floral. It's both really, probably favoring the former.

As I'd feared, the initially vigorous amount of carbonation hasn't settled down nearly enough. That, coupled with a body that is at least as much porter as it is stout, results in a mouthfeel that can only be described as disappointing. Breaking news: the bubbles are finally calming themselves and the body is firming up just enough by the time I enter the bottom half of the bottle to earn a tentative thumbs up.

Cadillac Mountain Stout isn't the world-beater that I expected, but it is a very good version of a 'just plain ol' stout, a style that is too often ignored. Assuming a little better quality control with regard to carbonation, I can see how it earned the accolades that are so proudly displayed on the label. I'd like to thank MuddyFeet for sending the bomber my way.

Poured into a nonic a deep dark brown with hints of ruby hue a large blooming mocha colore head atop that settles slowlty into a creamy-like mass.Deep bitter chocolate notes with a great floral aroma coming thru that was unexpected but very nice you dont see that much in the style but made for a pleasant suprise underlying coffee tones come thru as well.Light to medium bodied but oh so smooth it was gone before I knew it,quite dry but not bitter firm unsweetened chocolate and dark roast coffee tones intertwined with a hint of charred fruit that really lends itself to the drier aspects of the beer.Defifnetly one of the better dry stouts to come my way if not the best,just flavorful I will look forward to getting more of this.

The pour is a creamy root beer colored head that just floats on the blackish beer with bubbles so fine they disappear into infinity.

Aroma is a subtle roastiness. Smells fresh, alive. Vinous, with a touch of fruitiness tucked in there. Waaaay in the back. The taste is a creamy slightly sweet oh god it just slipped like smooth and velvety down my throat. But not like velvet. It's like the carbonation is so fine and light that you get this amazing mouthfeel. Oh, but the taste is a subtle creamy sweet light roastiness with hardly any hop flavor and mostly light coffee (the way coffee with a little milk tastes, or coffee milk, if you're from RI) and in a way, like milk. This beer tells you you are drinking something special, something good. Slight roast malt sourness inthe aftertaste, but even that makes you aware of the complexity. Some bitter chocolate.

The Caddilac Mtn. Stout pours from the bomber a deep dark onyx with a volumious bubbly creamy two finger tan head on top. So dark it appears to nearly absorb light. Leaves some sticky patches of lacing. Nice. Aromas begin with a big blast of chocolate along with a nice roasty aspect and a nice helping of herbal, piney hops as well. Toffee and caramel notes weave in and out. Burnt marshmallow? Smoky, deep, dark and roasty..there's a lot going on here...a treat for the nose.

First sip brings a rush of dark roasted chocolate maltiness. Slightly dry and smoky with a nice helping of herbally, earthy green hops. Notes of dark fruits move in and out. Toffee and caramel intertwine. Super smooth with a beautiful balance of cocoa dusted malt and hops. This is one fine stout.

Mouthfeel is creamy with a medium body and healthy carbonation. A really tasty stout that's easy to drink with a unique flavor profile. I really wish I had easier access to this as I would pick it up regularly. Many thanks to MuddyFeet and BIF20 for getting this my way. I will seek it out again if the opportunity arises.

This beer was a nice black color with a thick coffee head, served in a snifter and just a little chilled. It had a dark chocolate odor. I could taste chocolate, roasted grain , and I think even some licorice. A great tasting beer. I thought it felt a trifle thin in the mouth, I guess I was expecting something a little more substantial. However, a great beer overall.

Presentation: 1 pint 6 oz brown bomber, bottle-conditioned. No freshness date, but an excellent explantion of the beer, how to store it (upright, that's right) and proper serving temps (45F-50F). Kudos for that info.

Appearance: Pours an opaque black beer with a massive 4 finger tan foam head -- no sign of it ever going away.

Taste: Hot damn! This is one insanely smooth beer! Mouthfeel is thick, but soft, milky and silky in its consistency. Loads of malt body. Sweet, but in a chocolate cake sort of way and very more-ish ... as in I want more dammit! Touch of molasses-like and raw-honey-like flavour. Malts are backed by a juicy fruit character. The beer then goes dry with a semi-sharp astringency, but for a brief moment where a roasted quality meets a subtle hop bitterness ... it soon gets coated with more malty goodness. Metallic, earthy notes. Light smokey / burnt flavours around the edges. Dry, grainy finish.

Notes: A freagin' outstanding stout! Seems more like a sweet stout though? But, to hell with it ... this is a tasty brew! Massive, complex and thoroughly enjoyable! One of the better stouts to have met my palate in recent days, and one that actually excited my palate. Seek out this beer immediately.

Yep, it's a Cadillac: big and smooth. Starts out with a dark chocolate maltiness and some background dark fruit that just opens up on the palate - beautiful. Some roastiness mid-sip followed by hints of dry coffee, more of that bitter cocoa, and a slight welcoming warming surge of alcohol. Nice chewy mouthfeel compliments the overall dry fruitiness perfectly. I think after three of these I could curl up in front of a fire somewhere.

One of the better stouts I've had the pleasure of drinking, and reason enough for a trip to Maine. I can see why this was one of the post- Llamafest highlights of the pub crawl. Many thanks to Patand David for the bomber.

Viscous crispness though a full body and creamy mouth feel. Soft burnt grain and charcoal flavours burst upon the palate with woody and earthy tones. Big-layered sweetness that is not cloying in any way, more of a flowing and creamy residual dextrin sweetness. The roasted character gives off a brownie like flavour. Hints of mild black currant and burnt raisins come from the fruity character of the yeast. Speaking of yeast there is a fresh earthiness from this brew being bottle conditioned. Finishes sweet with mild roasted flavours that push on forever.

A saucy stout and a fat one at that, full flavoured and quite complex. A very exciting ale to sip and savour as you venture through the 22 ounces.

Very difficult to find, even in Maine, but I finally found a few bombers at Gilbert's, on Main Street in Ellsworth. This stout pours as dark as a foggy night on the Maine coast, with a huge, light brown head. Lacing is profuse, and coats the imperial pint glass with sheets and patches.

Aroma begins with bigtime, roasty malts, evidenced by a strong whiff of fresh brewed, Kona coffee. A hint of English walnuts adds to the roastiness, and a good measure of floral hops(lilac?) jumps aboard, as well.

Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick and coating. Very smooth and nicely carbonated.

Excellent taste that never yields a weakness throughout the 22 oz bottle's pour. Chocolate and coffee maltiness abounds, with plenty of floral, and, at times, herbal hops to balance this excellent stout.

Very nice complexity, and worthy of its acclaim. Very, Very, tasty, and incredible drinkability. By far, the best of the many Maine brews I enjoyed.